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Osites
Osites There it was! did you see it? that was it... her last moment. Amazing. This small, enigmatic and almost extinct bloodline claims, like many faithful bloodlines, to be descended from one of the first Sanctified — a former mortuary priest and scholar of the dead. The name of this progenitor is lost, but the bloodline’s name comes from the lineage’s ancient nickname: Bone Monks. Osites (from os, meaning “bone”) seek to derive spiritual understanding of the Requiem by studying that which God has withheld from the Damned: death. Osites traditionally regard funerary rites as fascinating cultural and occult events; they examine corpses, cemeteries, morgues and churchyards for some evidence of what lies beyond the mortal coil. By understanding both life (which the Osites have already experienced) and death, the Bone Monks believe they can better master the state of undeath and celebrate the Curse. Some say the Osites used to be the keepers of catacombs beneath Rome; that they are the remnants of a Roman ancestor cult. Others claim they were a secret society of necromancers prior to the Embrace of their leader by the Monachus. Most often believed, however, is the tale told by elder Osites: that they were simple scriveners and morticians for the Sanctified in the early nights of the Black Abbey. It fell to the forbears of the Bone Monks to dispose of human corpses following Sanctified rites and ceremonies. Eventually, it fell to them to deal with the bodies of humans accidentally slain by sloppy predators. Within a few decades, the so-called Bone Monks were surrounded by death perpetrated by the Lancea Sanctum. Then, one night, the forgotten founder of the Osite bloodline saw that he was not alone in the crypts beneath the Black Abbey — he was surrounded by ghosts. Since that night, the descendants of the first Osite have been pursuing the study of death. What, exactly, they seek varies with each Bone Monk — the sensation of dying, insight into the spiritual architecture of the world, the ability to return a soul to its body — but most agree that they’ll recognize the secret when they find it. Osites occultism speculates that the living and the dead each have their own spiritual energies, and that those energies are intermingled in the bodies of the Damned. According to Osites, when a creature dies, its living, physical essence (perhaps the mystic energy that separates blood from Vitae) is transmuted into a spiritual essence, and the moment of that transmutation (that is, the moment of death) is an instant of sublime and miraculous power. In that moment, everything about a person may be revealed. It is the only instant of true, naked honesty in the existence of any creature. When something dies, a residue of its living essence might remain in the body, like a fragment of the self left behind when the soul broke free of the form. The Osite Discipline of Memento Mori is an attempt to make use of that residue. With it, and centuries of occult study, Osites hope to one day see the mechanisms of the universe and understand the mystical system God created. Parent Clan: Mekhet Nickname: Bone Monks Covenant The Osites claim their lineage began in the catacombs beneath the Black Abbey, and most Bone Monks have been Sanctified since the Embrace. Many Osites can hardly be called devout members of the covenant, however, as they tend to visit the minimum observances necessary to maintain good standing in the parish and provide little of value to Anointed who have nothing to gain from their macabre studies. Individual Osites are often privately pious — most are deeply spiritual — but few Osites have an interest in the quality of faith held by other Sanctified. The parish, and the Invictus or Carthian authorities, may demand that a local Osite earn his keep by using his supernatural insight to investigate even mildly suspicious deaths in the domain. Perhaps a Priest’s Herd has been thinned or a Primogen’s Retainer has been found dead and it is the Osite’s responsibility to label the death a crime or an accident — or prove it to be what the Prince has already labeled it. Osites tend to have fewer qualms than other Sanctified about dealing with pagan Kindred. They follow investigations and research wherever it leads, and are as fascinated by pagan perceptions of death as they are by Sanctified scripture. Over the centuries, a few Osites have chosen their occult studies over their dedication to Longinus and left the Sanctified for the ranks of the Acolytes or, more often, the Dragons. It’s more common for Osites to maintain secret ties with other covenants, however, rather than risk losing the protection of the Lancea Sanctum. Appearance Most Osites care little for their appearance, appearing dirty and unkempt, whether in monks’ robes or modern dress. Some dress like gravediggers or sewer workers, others wear plastic aprons like a coroner or the tweed jacket of a college professor. Most Osites have given up on matters of fashion and style, though many are sociable and even pleasant. They appear as they are: fastidious scholars distracted from the Requiem by their obsession. All Osites are pale and discolored like a corpse, with dark stains in the fingers and feet, where their blood pools and settles. Many develop bluish lips and red, stiff eyes. They are clearly no longer living creatures. They do not rot, however, but remain forever in a state like that of the recently deceased. Haven Most Osites make their havens near cemeteries, mortuaries, or historic catacombs and ossuaries. Osites don’t concern themselves with creature comforts, but do collect texts, bones, memento mori images and all manner of funerary artworks, from Mexican sugar skulls to Egyptian scarab pendants. An Osite’s haven is likely to be cluttered with photographs seemingly snapped at an autopsy, books on anthropology and medicine, morticians’ trade publications, medical examiner’s tools and other trappings of the macabre hobbyist. Wealthy or well-connected Bone Monks may have basement rooms with plenty of drainage for storing, examining and interviewing the dead. The poorest Osites sleep in secret nooks and crawlspaces beneath funeral parlors or mausoleums. Background: It is a rare night when an Osite sires a vampire. Few mortals with a passion for death are willing to avoid it for eternity. Rather, most new Osites are drawn from the ranks of Mekhet Kindred who develop a fascination with death over the course of their own Requiems. Still, not many Osites have an interest in becoming the Avus for another vampire. The Bone Monks have little interest in, and less need to, expand their membership or increase the number of Kindred who can practice the bloodline’s unique supernatural arts. The secrets an Osite uncovers are meant to satisfy his own spiritual pursuits and intellectual curiosities, not to grant the Lancea Sanctum some power over the dead. Character Creation: Osites favor Mental Attributes, almost without exception. Wits is paramount, for an Osite must be perceptive, but Intelligence is also vital if he is to understand what he sees. Mental Skills such as Investigation, Medicine and Occult are essential to an Osite’s studies. Physical Skills get overlooked by most Osites, though some dots in Larceny and Stealth can aid a Bone Monk that plans on trespassing in morgues and graveyards. Osites may seek Contacts in funeral homes, cemeteries and hospitals throughout the city, or keep a Retainer to run errands for him among mortals. Remember that a character must have at least a second dot of Blood Potency to even be eligible for the bloodline. Bloodline Disciplines Auspex , Celerity , Memento Mori, Obfuscate Weakness Osites are touched by death, and it shows in their flesh and Vitae. Beyond the clan weakness of the Mekhet, which the Bone Monks have inherited, the corpses of these Kindred are slow to heal and quick to stagnate. The livid (bluish coloration) body of an Osite bruises like a corpse, even in undeath, darkening from even minor bumps and scrapes. Blood pools in an Osite’s fingertips and feet when he stands upright and in his back when he lays sleeping, turning the flesh a sickly purpleblack and making it difficult for the character to stir his languid Vitae. An Osite who wishes to spend Vitae in the current scene must first use one Vitae to excite and circulate his blood. This first Vitae cannot power any Disciplines or other powers of the blood — it only makes it possible for the character to spend Vitae as usual for the rest of the scene. An Osite also requires two Vitae to wake each night. An Osite character finds his body is sluggish to respond to the healing powers of Vitae. Unlike normal Kindred, an Osite heals only one point of bashing damage per Vitae spent; two Vitae are needed to heal a single point of lethal damage. Osites heal aggravated damage as other vampires do. Organization Modern Osites don’t often organize outside whatever social structure is imposed on them by the covenant. The Bone Monks are so few and far between that little or no communication takes place between them anymore. Domains with more than one Osite are very rare. Those with more than two Osites have, in almost every case, been the home of a “chapter” (some say “cult”) of Bone Monks for hundreds of years; such domains are thought to exist only in Europe. The Bone Monks of such a relatively crowded parish have probably been organized by the resident Bishop to serve some purpose for the covenant, perhaps searching catacombs for relics or researching some deathly rite of Theban Sorcery. Outside of the covenant hierarchy, Osites sometimes work together as mentor-and-student or researcher-and-assistant pairs. Historically, such relationships are intended to repay an Osite Avus for admitting a new Bone Monk into the line. In practice that’s certainly the case sometimes, but other Bone Monks work together for a short while (say, 10 or 15 years) to master the supernatural powers of Osite blood or investigate some larger mystery, such as a mass grave, a rash of hauntings or the motives of a serial killer. Concepts Cynical EMT, deranged ER doctor, eager mortician, gravedigger, hospice nurse, medical examiner, obituary writer, occult archaeologist. Known Osites Memento Mori In the Middle Ages, objects called memento mori were treasured as memorabilia of the dearly departed. Some mementos were items the dead had owned in life, such as combs, jewelry or tools, which were decorated by beloved survivors. Other mementos, honoring either specific souls or all the dead folk of the land, were created specifically to remind the living of the dead — or of Death itself — and were prominently displayed in churches throughout Europe. Many medieval mementos featured the dead as skeletal shades of their past themselves or depicted Death himself doing his grisly work. More gruesome mementos show the dead as rotting corpses. In Victorian England, the limits of memento mori expanded again to include photographs of the deceased after their death, typically dressed in their Sunday best and often surrounded by flowers and other serene imagery. The phrase “memento mori” has various, subtly different meanings. Most often, it is said to mean “remember thy death,” or “remember that you will die.” (A more sentimental translation would be “remember the dead.”) Although the message of a memento mori is sobering and sad, these grim reminders are also meant to remind the living to “get living.” That the Osites chose to name their mystical tradition of death magic Memento Mori is not surprising, but it does sometimes draw disapproval from Sanctified traditionalists. What is a memento mori to the undead but a reminder of life? What is it to a Sanctified vampire but a temptation to get involved in the affairs of mortals? Such semantic arguments seldom amount to real trouble for Osites, however, as they clearly have little interest in the living. Instead, the semantics of this Discipline’s name reflects the Osite desire for knowledge of death. The Osites, as a whole, don’t seek to spur on death, circumvent it or even master it. Memento Mori is, foremost, a tool for gaining worldly insight through the study of the dead. With it, an Osite can observe the departed, consult with corpses, draw power from the dead and study the effects of death on others. • Twilight Sight The intended use of Memento Mori is to open the Osite’s eyes to the insights that can be gleaned through the medium of death. This fundamental power allows the vampire to see the ghosts that haunt the material world. By mingling the lively power of the Blood with his own undead eyes, the Osite gains an insight into the traces of life that linger in the world after death. While using Twilight Sight, the Osite’s eyes seem filled with jagged, blood-shot veins. Cost: 1 Vitae Dice Pool: No roll is required to activate this power. To make use of Twilight Sight, the player simply announces to the Storyteller that he is spending Vitae and opening his eyes to the dead. The Osite can then automatically see (but not hear or otherwise sense) any ghosts or other creatures in the state of Twilight with a Power rating inversely proportional to the vampire’s dots in Memento Mori. With one dot in Memento Mori, for example, an Osite can see ghosts with Power 5 only, but with two dots in Memento Mori, an Osite can see ghosts with Power scores of four or five, and so on. (See “Ghosts,” p. 208 of the World of Darkness Rulebook for more information on ghostly traits.) This power doesn’t grant the character any greater visual acuity outside of the ability to see ghosts. The Storyteller may still require a Wits roll to spot a hiding ghost or a Wits or Intelligence + Occult roll to make sense of strange ghostly forms. The Osite may add his dots in Memento Mori to any such rolls. An Osite with one or more dots in Memento Mori can also attempt a reflexive Wits + Occult + Memento Mori roll to scrutinize undead creatures such as zombies. A successful roll reveals whether or not the creature is driven by some supernatural power of its own — such as its own spirit or a ghostly echo of vengeance — or whether it is merely the motiveless, animated instrument of some necromancer. Action: Instant •• Consult with the Dead An Osite with access to suitable remains (a corpse is best, but a head might do) can interview a corpse to learn what secrets it kept for the soul. First the Osite must share some of his Vitae with the body, either by dribbling it into the corpse’s mouth or brushing it onto the corpse’s skin. The Osite must then whisper a question into the corpse’s ear and listen for a quiet reply from the body. The words spoken by a questioned corpse may come from the lungs or the mouth, or might seem to come from nowhere at all. Whatever the source of a given corpse’s voice, all in its presence can hear it — not just the Osite. Cost: 1 Vitae Dice Pool: Presence + Persuasion + Memento Mori Action: Instant Roll Results Dramatic Failure: The corpse can never be roused. All future attempts to Consult with the Dead on this corpse meet with failure. Failure: The corpse is not roused, but the Osite can try again. Success: The remains of the corpse’s mind are roused from death. The Osite persuades the corpse to reply to one question per success. The player of the Osite can now call for rolls to retrieve information from the corpse using dots the deceased had in Intelligence, Wits and Skills while alive. Each roll made on behalf of the corpse constitutes one reply, even if the roll fails. Questions that fail can be asked again, if the corpse still has replies to use. Very basic information, such as the corpse’s name, may be attainable without a roll at the Storyteller’s discretion, but still uses up one of the corpse’s replies. Exceptional Success: Extra successes grant the Osite access to more information from the corpse being consulted. The Storyteller must be the final judge of what a character (and his corpse) might know and, as a result, what information can be obtained from a given corpse with this power. The Storyteller should strive to give answers that help to further the story while also suggesting something of the deceased’s character. Example: Grant, an Osite Inquisitor, is investigating a Priest’s recent interactions with mortal cultists and has finally located the body of the cult’s former leader, dumped in the woods. The body is more than one week old (–3 penalty), but in relatively good shape (–1 penalty), and Grant knows it to be the cult leader, John Rice. After all these penalties, Grant has just four dice to roll, which yield two successes. Taking the corpse by the head, he presses his lips to Rice’s ear and asks his first question: “Who killed you, John?” Grants opens the corpse’s mouth and listens, but no answer comes. (The Storyteller knows Rice was shot in the back — he never saw his killer.) For his second and final question, Grant tries to plumb the depths of Rice’s occult knowledge and follow up on a clue he found the night before, asking “What is the Beast of the Black Sunday?” The player asks the Storyteller to make an Intelligence + Occult roll on Rice’s behalf, and she does. The roll yields just one success. Rice’s body shifts, its chest falling, and it exhales, “You are, vampire.” ' ' To use this power, the Osite needs access to vital portions of the subject corpse. A body that has been mutilated, rotted or partially eaten imposes a penalty (generally –1 for each limb’s worth of flesh missing) on the roll to use this power. A body without a head can be used at a –5 penalty, and a head alone can be used with the same penalty. A severed head in physical contact its body imposes just a –1 penalty, however. At least a head or a torso must remain to be consulted; limbs and shredded flesh are not enough. An Osite can only use this power once on any given corpse, but multiple Osites may subject a corpse to multiple interviews. Once an Osite has interviewed any one portion of the deceased, he cannot use this power on another portion of the same deceased person. Suggested Modifiers Modifier Situation –1 to –5 The body is mutilated or somehow incomplete. –1 The character does not know the name of the deceased. –2 The character does not recognize the deceased. –3 The character cannot determine the deceased’s occupation, sphere of knowledge or field of experience. –1 The body is more than 15 minutes old. –2 The body is more than one night old. –3 The body is more than one week old. –4 The body is more than one month old. –5 The body is more than one year old (only possible if the body has somehow been preserved). ' ' ••• Brush of Death The Osite knows he has made a breakthrough in the study of death when he learns this power. Brush of Death imbues the Osite’s body with a deathly energy that rots flesh and evokes the panic of death. All who touch or are touched by him risk glimpsing a flash of their own bloody end. Cost: 1 Vitae Dice Pool: No roll is required to activate this power. The Osite’s effort to transmute his own undead essence into a force of death automatically succeeds, consumes one Vitae and takes his action in a turn to complete. According to the traditional metaphysics of the Osites, the character is tipping his body’s unnatural balance of living and dead energies and attuning his flesh to a state of death, rather than undeath. His flesh takes on a pallid or bloated appearance, damp and sweaty, like a corpse allowed to fester. The Osite’s flesh is now a conduit for the essence of death. His touch inflicts aggravated damage with an unarmed close combat attack, provided it reaches flesh (this attack does not ignore Armor; see “Touching an Opponent,” on p. 157 of the World of Darkness Rulebook). Any creature whose flesh touches the Osite’s must succeed in a reflexive, contested action against the Osite or lose one Willpower point as grisly images and sensations his own death pulse through his mind in a flash. This contested action pits the touched creature’s Composure + Blood Potency versus the Osite’s Presence + Occult + Memento Mori. If the Osite scores more successes, the creature in contact with him loses a point of Willpower. Otherwise, the frightening flash is unsettling but not enough to shake the creature’s will. So long as this power is in effect, the Osite’s body looks and feels as if it is dead, even to the Osite himself. He is considered to have a Humanity of 1 for the purposes of relating to mortals (see p. 185 of Vampire: The Requiem) while this power is active. The Osite maintains his deathly state for the rest of the scene, unless he cancels this power prematurely, which takes nothing more than a thought. ' ' •••• Blood From Bone Osites with this power can draw sustenance from the residual mystic power that pools, calcifies and stagnates in a creature’s bones. With this power, the Osite can extract viable Vitae even from rotten corpses or steal an echo of knowledge and experience from the dead. Cost: 1 Willpower Dice Pool: No roll is required to activate the most basic use of this power. The player simply spends the necessary Willpower point to enable the character to draw the power of Vitae from bone. Strictly speaking, the Osite is not consuming blood but a residual, mystical essence that clings to the bones after death. This power instantly transmutes that mystical essence into Vitae within the Osite’s body. To an onlooker, the Osite might seem to be sucking the marrow from bones, but the Osite needs bone itself, not marrow, to use this power. Action: Instant The Osite can draw Vitae equal to the rough Size of the bones consumed. The size of individual bones isn’t relevant; it’s the rough, collected Size of the remains that matters. The mangled and mutilated remains of half a large dog (Size 4 in life) yield two Vitae to the Osite. The Storyteller decides if bones are too few or too far gone to provide sustenance to the Osite, but as a rule of thumb, bones remain viable for a number of weeks equal to the Size of the creature. For example, the remains of an adult human body (Size 5) contains viable energies for up to five weeks after death. For the purposes of a Kindred’s diet and Blood Potency, Vitae drawn from a corpse retains its human or animal classification, so that a vampire who can no longer feed on animals can likewise no longer feed on animal bones. With a successful Resolve + Investigation + Memento Mori roll, a character can choose to transmute a human corpse’s mystical essence into an echo of talent or knowledge, rather than Vitae. Roll Results Dramatic Failure: The Osite’s attenuation to the energies of death is disrupted. He cannot use an application of Blood From Bone for the rest of the night. Failure: If the roll to steal knowledge from a person’s remains fails, all of the body’s mystic essence is lost. The Osite gains no bonus dice and the Willpower point spent to use this power is wasted. Success: The Osite gains no Vitae from the corpse, but may steal dots from any one of the deceased’s Skills in life. (A trucker might yield dots in Drive, for example, while a hiker probably had a dot or two in Survival). The Osite can choose to take the dots from a particular Skill or he can seek out the Skill in which the deceased had the most dots. (If no one Skill had the most dots, the Storyteller breaks the tie by selecting the Skill more often used by the deceased.) The Osite can then add those dots as bonus dice to any one dice pool involving that Skill, at any point in the future. All of the dots must be used on one roll. The Osite can “store” dots from only one corpse at a time. Exceptional Success: As a success, but the Osite also manages to extract one Vitae from the remains. Action: Instant Suggested Modifiers Modifier Situation +2 The corpse has not been moved from the spot of its death. +1 The body died less than an hour ago. — The remains are mostly whole. -1 Each week since the body’s death. -2 The remains are scattered or mostly incomplete. ' ' ••••• Necrosis Osites who have mastered Memento Mori consider themselves to be like Death himself. With this power, the Osite can unbalance the mystic energies of others without disrupting his own Cursed state. With just a look, a victim the Osite can see directly is made to experience the sensation of death as his body rots and decays like a corpse. Living flesh wrinkles, grows soft and bleeds. Kindred Vitae rots in the veins. Cost: 1 Willpower Dice Pool: Intelligence + Medicine + Memento Mori – the subject’s Stamina Action: Instant Roll Results Dramatic Failure: The Osite’s own energies are thrown out of balance. He loses Vitae equal to his Blood Potency. Failure: The power has no effect on the chosen victim. Success: The Osite sends a wave of death and decay through the victim. Mortals and living supernatural creatures suffer a point of lethal damage per success scored. Kindred and ghouls lose one Vitae per success scored, if the kindred is out of vitea they take one point of lethal damage per success. Exceptional Success: No additional effect beyond the staggering damage done. An Osite must be able to see his victim directly to activate Necrosis. A victim spied through glass is susceptible, but one seen through a CCTV system is not. The damaging effects of this power make the body seem rotten or old-aged, but the appearance gradually returns to normal if the damage is healed.